Below is an edited transcript of the video:

If all you can do is pray, then pray.

Pray with passion, pray with enthusiasm, pray without ceasing.

So often I hear people who know people in need and they’d like to help, but for whatever reason they can’t. Maybe the person is in another city across the country, wherever, and you can't take a meal or visit or take them somewhere. Sometimes even with local people, you can’t do what you’d like to do. Sometimes the need is financial and you don’t have the resources to contribute.

So often that’s when people say, “I’m sorry, I can’t help. All I can do is pray.”

Folks, prayer is powerful.

It is the best thing you can do—the most important thing. You can do all of those other things of service. And I know Jesus told us to do them. We know that we should do that. We are to serve.

We are to help when we can, but we are also to pray. And it tells us that in the Bible in so many ways. Let’s look at just a couple of them.

In James 5:16:

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

It doesn't say, give medicine. It doesn’t say visit in the hospital. It says, pray for each other because prayer is powerful and effective.

And in Ephesians 6:18-19, Paul writes:

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me that whenever I opened my mouth words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.

Paul isn’t asking anybody to do things for him. He’s not asking people to bring him food or take him someplace. He’s asking for prayer. That tells us how important prayer is.

In Matthew 5:44—we’ve heard this one and it’s not an easy one:

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

That’s a little off the message of when you want to do something for someone and you cannot do something physical. So you should be praying and recognize the value of prayer, but pray for those who persecute you. Pray for your enemies. This is an important part of serving and doing for others.

And the last scripture I want to read is Mark 9:28-29:

After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

Now Jesus was talking about demons in a boy, in a child. But what he was also talking about here is the power of prayer. There was nothing else that would work in this situation but prayer.

So when you feel like there’s nothing you can do and you say, “All I can do is pray,” understand that is powerful. That's important. It should never be denigrated. It should never be apologized for. It should never be treated as though it’s not as important as some physical manifestation of support.

So if all you can do is pray, pray.

Scripture – NIV

Jacquelyn Lynn
Follow me
Latest posts by Jacquelyn Lynn (see all)